Bread slicing machine



March 8, 1938. HfJ. CRINER BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1937 INVENTOR.

ATTO NEYS,

Patented Mar. 8, 1938 UNITED, STATES BREAD SLICING MACHINE Harry J. Criner, Davenport, Iowa, assignor of one-half to A. G. Bush, Davenporhlowa Application February 19, 1937, Serial No. 126,613

11 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in bread slicing machines, and while primarily designed for band-blade machines, -may be used on the I reciprocating type. The objects of my invention are:

To provide a bread slicing machine having simple and effective means for guiding and gauging the cutting blades and for quicklyand easily changing the gauge or spacing of the guides and blades; to provide a simple, easily operated method of varying the gauge" of multiple slicing blades;

to provide means and a method to automatically space and gauge the slicing blades uniformly; and to provide means and a method for readily l5 changing the gauge of the slicing blades while the machine is in motion, and without stopping the machine nor removing any part of it.

I accomplish these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which;-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine taken from the right of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of my machine taken from the left of Figure 1, but with a part of the cutting blades and the bread chute omitted;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, but showing a part of the hub, 4, in section on the middle line thereof and omitting the lower half of the machine;

Figure 4 is an enlarged end view of the upper guide assembly;

Figure 5 is a detail showing the side elevation of one of the guide-supporting members and the spring adjacent thereto;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail showing a plan View of one of the guide-supporting members and spring;

Figure '7 is an enlarged detail showing an end view of the upper guide assembly in an alternative position in which the guide fingers are located so as to form a guide or detent for the bread while being sliced, to' prevent upward displacement thereof.

My invention comprises a frame, I, preferably formed of cast-iron, having a T-shaped' column with web, 'I base, 6, and extended feet, 1, formed integral therewith. An upper hub, 2, is united to or cast integral with the column,'I, and has an eccentric bearing, I2, mounted therein which carries an eccentric casting, I3, in which the shaft,

II, is rigidly secured.

A handle, I4, is united to the casting I3, by which the casting, I3, can be turned in the eccentric bearing so asto raise or lower the shaft,

I I, to tighten or loosen the cutting blades. Upon the shaft, II, is revolvably mounted a resilient cylindrical pulley, 8. A similar hub, 3, is cast integral with or'united to the lower end of the frame in which one end of the shaft, I0, is mounted and a drive-wheel, I6, is mounted upon one 5 end of the shaft, I0, which can be actuated by a belt, I5, driven by the drive pulley, I5, of the motor, I6, which may be secured upon the base,

6, by anysuitable means.

A resilient cylindrical pulley, 9, is revolvably 10 mounted upon the opposite end of the shaft, I I). Band-blades, II, which may be crossed in figure 8 form as shown in Figure 1, are mounted upon the cylindrical pulleys, 8 and 9, and travel therewith. 15

Near the middle of the frame, I, I form hubs,

4 and 5, which may be cast integral with the web, I, or secured thereto by an arm or bracket, I. or other suitable means.

In the upper hub, 4, I mount rigidly a rod or 20 shaft, 2 I, which is free to slide lengthwise iii the hub, 4, but which is secured against rotation by a key, 30, which is somewhat shorter than the slot, 3 I, in which it is secured, a corresponding slot being formed in the hub, 4, so as to prevent 25 rotational movement of the key, 30.

Uponthe bar or shaft, 2|, I mount slidingly a plurality of guide supports, I9, which are substantially annular, but are formed with a tan gential hub, I9a, in which the inner end, 20, of 3 a guide finger, I8, is secured by a press-fit or by threading or by other suitable means. The guide finger, I8, has a narrow slot, Il','cut in its outer end to form a guide for a band-blade to travel therein. The fingers, I8, are preferably made 35 of steel hardened to a glasslike hardness, and the outer ends of the fingers, I8, are hollowed along the line of the slot, I'I so as to facilitate entrance of the blades.

The innermost guide-supporting member has 0' a hub, 24, formed integral therewith which extends into a suitable opening formed in the inner end of the hub, 4. A pin, 21, is'secured in the hub, 4, the inner end of which extends into a groove, 28, formed in the periphery of the hub, 45 24, and locks the hub, 24, against movement longitudinally out of the hub, 4.

The outermost supporting member, 19, has a pin, 2|, secured therein which passes through the end of the shaft, 2|, and locks said support- 50 ing member against movement thereon.

Intermediate the inner and outer supporting members, I mount a plurality of similar supporting members upon the shaft, 22, which are separated by cupped springs, 36, which are preferably 55 The sprlngs,',8l. are

2 i v s,no,ooo I thesupporting members, II and II. to trsvelin thereorosshowninl igm'ehbutthgesll'lnfl msyhe ouppedsnnflnrplsteswith urullty oi slotscutintothemnt lntervelsinordertotscilis tote the springsotion thereof, or msyhe made isrlgidly securedinnsuiteble-slot II. MW" in. The supporting members,il, nndspring, 8t,

' ueslotted tointsndmoveireelyuponthespline.

15 22. The sprints, 80, are formed of substsnflnlly,

the-some weight and resistance so thnttheywill exertnuniiormpressureuponthesuooessivesupporting members. it, and space them uniformly upon the shaft, 2i, 7

made with sumoient strength to move the supporting members, it, freely upon the shsit, 2i. and the supporting members ere preferably made of sufliciently light weight and fitted loosely enough upon the shaft.

Ii, so as tomovei'reely thereon in 9 w to -the spring pressure.

-A wheel, I, isthreeded upon threads, lif, cut,

in the enderuie II, which projects outwerdlyiromtheboss,l,lorthetpurpose.

In order to contract or nsr'ro'w the guide of "the cutting blades, the wheel, n w be revolved so'thntthethrendthes'eo! will exerttrection upon the shaft, II, and draw the shaft to the leftasinl'lgurefl. Thiswillshorten the'speee betweentheoutermostmpport, ll,whichisiixed .thesprings.fl.sndcsusethemtogive. Beingotmiiormstrengththisgivingwillbesubstsn- 'tinllyunfl'ormmdwillcnusesllthe lingers, iigsndoonsequentlythecuttingblsdes,

.i'l, to movecloser together. thus nsrrowim the thinner slices gsugesndcsmingthemtocut movementoitheshsitesdeterminedbythe pins, Ii, and the compressibility trsvel-otthe er hept from rotation e, sspline, scum endoi thevshsi't, II, which extends through the hub innnydesirediorm.

' ll, 'tormed integral therewith by w A feed chuteJLmny have its lower end ll to the ire-me, I, by :1 suitable brscket, 4|, secured to the trnmeby s bolt, 48. or other suitable means, and the outer portion of the chute msy besupported by a. brace, is. which may beinthe iormotastraporberoiironoraplateextend- 20 ingthetullwidthoithemnchineendtheends or which maybe secured to the feed chute. II.

and tgot, I, respectively. by bolts or rivets- 8| and i I 7 An oil-hearing chute, Ii, may be secured to 25 to one of the feet, I, by a bolt, 44. 1 In the operation of mymachine, the bomb, ll, be placed over and around the pulleys, l sndtinilgureiiorm. Theshsits, Ii end,

enmountedintheirrespectivehubsJsnd l, nndthesupportingmembersspsoed and secured in mentoi the wheels I and II.

the desired position by must-'86 When it becomes necessary to replace a ,blade, it is a simple matter to loosen the blades by turning the-handle, l4, and moving the blades along from right to left as necessary and adding the required blades at the right of the machine as shown in Figure 2, or the pins, 2| and 29, may be removed from the ends of the shafts, 2| and23, and the shafts drawn out through the hubs, 4 and 5, as far as necessary to make therequired replacement.

It should be noted that both my method of changing the gauge and the mechanism described, is applicable not only to crossed blades as shown in the drawing, but is also applicable to uncrossed blades such as are shown in the alternative figures in my application for patent, Serial No. 119,936. x

I prefer to use the form of guide shown in Figure '7 for the upper guides so that the bread will pass along the lower edge of the fingers, l8, of the upper'guide members and be restrained from vertical movement thereby. At the same time, the bread will move along and upon the lower fingers, l8, and be supported thereby while surface of the hub, I 9a, of the supporting mem-- bers.

The guide assemblies above described. are designed for use with both band-blade slicing machines and reciprocating bladed machines, although in the case of reciprocating machines,

suitable changes will have to be made in the suspensionor supports for the blades so as to permit free lateral movement thereof to correspond to the movement of the guides.

Another convenient method for replacing a broken blade is to draw the key, 30, and when the key, 30, is removed, it will permit the shaft, 2|, to revolve so that the fingers, It, may be withdrawn from contact with the blades. The same course may be followed with reference to the shaft, 23.

It is obvious that various modifications of form and position may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I do not limit my claims to the precise form of apparatus shown in the drawing nor my method to performance by the precise form of mechanism here shown.

Itis likewise obvious that my invention need not be limited to bread slicing machines, but may be applied to machines of various types using a pluralityof blades which require adjustable or variable spacing.

I claim:

1. In a multiple bladed bread slicing machine, a blade gauging mechanism comprising a shaft mounted parallel to the plane of travel of the blades, a plin'ality of slotted guide members slidably mounted upon the shaft adapted to engage, space and guide the blades, compression springs slidably mounted upon the shaft in alternation with the guide members and reversible means for contracting the spacing of the guide members or for allowing the springs to expand the spacing thereof.

2. A multiple band-blade slicing machine comprising a base, a side frame united thereto, upper and lower pulleys revolvably mounted upon the frame at or near the top and bottom thereof, a transverse boss cast integral with the frame intermediate the pulleys, a transverse shaft slidably I pinned to the boss, and the intermediate members being slidable lengthwise upon the shaft, compress'ionsp'rings splined upon the shaft and slidable lengthwise thereon being'interposed between the successive guide members and adapted to exert uniform pressure thereon'in opposite directions, and means for driving the pulleys.

3. In a bread slicing machine having a frame, and a pair of spaced pulleysrevolvably mounted thereon with a plurality of band-blades, carried or driven by the pulleys, a blade gauging mechanism comprising a transverse shaft slidably mounted in the frame, a plurality ofguide members slidably mounted upon the shaft ,adapted to space and guide the blades, compression springs slidably mounted upon the shaft in alternation with the guide members and adapted to exert pressure -,upon'the adjacent guide members in v opposite directions, and means uniting the outermost guide member in fixed positionpupon the shaft.

4. In combination with a bread slicing machine having a frame and a pairfof spaced pulleys revolvably mounted thereon with a plurality of band-blades mounted upon the pulleys, unitary means for spacing and guiding said blades intermediate the pulleys, said means comprising a pair of spaced units each unit containing a plurality of guiding members, resilient means interposed between the guiding members respectively adapted to contract or expand uniformly'upon pressure being varied upon the opposed ends of the series.

5. In a bread slicing machine having a frame carrying a pair of spaced pulleys revolvably mounted thereon with a plurality of band-blades carried or driven by the pulleys, a blade gauging mechanism comprising a transverse shaft slidably mounted in the frame intermediate the pulleys'parallel to theplane of travel of the blades,

, a plurality of guide members slidably mounted upon the shaft in alternation with the guide members and adapted to exercise pressure upon the adjacent guide members in opposite'dlrections, a hand wheel threaded upon the shaft with its hub bearing against the frame adapted to draw the shaft inwardly so as to compress the springs.

6. In a bread slicing machine having a frame carrying a pair of spaced pulleys revolvably mounted thereon with a plurality of band-blades carried or driven by thepulleys, a blade gauging mechanism comprising a transverse shaft slidably mounted in the frame intermediate the pulleys parallel to the plane of travel of the blades, a plurality of guide members slidably mounted upon the shaft, the outermost guide member being rigidly united to the shaft and the innermost guide member being fixedly united to the frame, resilient means slidably mounted 

